Sifting for Gold

Taking in four continents and a quarter century of changing life perspectives, Sifting for Gold explores the themes of journeying and of distance: between places, cultures, histories and the generations.

This is Paul Martin’s first collection of poetry. His travel book, Travels with Bertha: Two Years Exploring Australia in a 1978 Ford Stationwagon (Liberties Press, Dublin), was described by the Irish Times as one of the “Must Read Books of 2012”.

Some of these poems describe emotional and cultural moments from places as diverse as California, Peru, Italy, Ecuador, Sydney and Buenos Aires. Later poems, exploring experiences such as memory, marriage, fatherhood and aging, draw deeply upon his wide reading and his “second home” of Italy.